Despite scoring slump, Mauermann vital to Friar hopes

Tuesday

Mar 25, 2014 at 9:11 PM

PROVIDENCE — The hockey gods who were so good to Ross Mauermann of Providence College in the first half of the season turned their backs on him without warning in the second half.The junior center from...

Mark Divver Assistant Sports Editor markdivver

PROVIDENCE — The hockey gods who were so good to Ross Mauermann of Providence College in the first half of the season turned their backs on him without warning in the second half.

The junior center from Wisconsin, who came to PC as a walk-on and has led the team in scoring in all three of his seasons, exploded out of the gate. He scored the Friars’ first goal of the season — shorthanded — in an opening night win over Minnesota State, and went on to pile up 7 goals and 13 points in the Friars’ first 10 games.

After 19 games, Mauermann had 13-14-27 totals and was rubbing elbows with Boston College’s Johnny Gaudreau, the Hobey Baker Award favorite, in the upper echelon of Hockey East scorers.

Then all of a sudden shots that found the back of the net early on started hitting the crossbar or the goalie’s pads or sailing inches wide. Once the calendar turned to 2014, his goals and points slowed to a trickle. After being on pace for a 50-point season at the midway point, Mauermann finished with 19 goals and 34 points in 37 games.

“That’s hockey,” he said on Tuesday after practice at Schneider Arena. “In the first half, anything I got a piece of went in the net. Sometimes you get those bounces where it’s perfect. Other times it doesn’t happen. In the second half, I’ve had chances and some of them haven’t gone in.”

Luckily for the Friars, there is much more to Mauermann’s game than goals and points. Playing in all situations, he is a key for PC, which will face Quinnipiac on Friday in the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional in Bridgeport.

An assistant captain, Mauermann sets a high standard for his teammates with his work ethic. And the way he has handled his scoring slump — never displaying bad body language, impatience with linemates, or giving less than a 100 percent effort — has been a breath of fresh air in an I’ve-got-to-get-mine sports world.

If Mauermann has been hurt, he hasn’t used that as an excuse. Injuries are a closely guarded secret around any team during the postseason, but Mauermann insists that he is 100 percent. While he’s been wearing a red no-contact jersey in practice for a few weeks, it’s only a precaution, he says.

Now that the postseason is under way, Mauermann isn’t looking back.

“The big thing is just to worry about this weekend. We’ve got a great opportunity. Last weekend we struggled a bit. Now we’re getting ready for a big game,” he said.

“We worked all year to get to this point. For me, it’s never been about scoring a lot of goals. It’s about winning. During the last stretch when I didn’t have many points, we were winning, so it was a lot easier to take. Obviously, you like to help out any way you can.”

Asked about Mauermann’s second-half production, Coach Nate Leaman paused and offered an answer that reveals a lot about how he views his team: “I’ll say this: I haven’t and I never will judge our players on points. The same quote that (Mike) Babcock gave about (Sidney) Crosby in the Olympics is exactly the way that I feel.

“I judge every guy on our team, including Jon Gillies, on (wins). There’s games when Ross is scoring. There’s games that he isn’t scoring. Games where (Nick) Saracino is scoring and games that he isn’t. Games (Brandon) Tanev is scoring and games that he isn’t.

“It’s about, when you’re not scoring, what do you bring to the team? It’s all about a team winning. That’s the only thing we’re focused on. I don’t care who gets the goals.”

Mauermann “plays the same way (whether he’s scoring or not),” said Leaman.

“The only thing that I’ve found with Ross is that when I have (Nick) Saracino there, the two of them seem to pass up chances with one another. I’ve got to remind them that they need to attack the net. They need to shoot. Sometimes when Nick and Ross are together they overthink instead of keeping it simple.

“For example, sometimes Ross is less about driving the defenseman wide and turning him and he’s more about, where’s Nick? Those two are playing together now and it’s something I’ve got to remind them of.”

Mauermann, who scored a huge insurance goal in PC’s quarterfinal win over Maine two weeks ago, is excited about Providence’s first NCAA appearance in 13 years. And he’s optimistic that the hockey gods will smile on him this weekend.